


Hero

by darkphoenix168



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Future Fish, M/M, Survival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-17
Updated: 2018-11-17
Packaged: 2019-08-24 19:33:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16646360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darkphoenix168/pseuds/darkphoenix168
Summary: Makoto's forest firefighting becomes a lot more dangerous once someone he dearly loves looks to become the next casualty of the blaze.





	Hero

**Author's Note:**

> A Birthday Gift for the Makoto Birthday Exchange! Thank you for the prompts iskabee (or ishka on here) I really hope you like what came out of it! As a quick aside; I absolutely love your work!

Large houses loomed over the empty streets, the once bustling town now deathly quiet. Doors were left both locked and unlocked, some leaving with time to spare others running out in a blind panic. Makoto Tachibana walked through the rows of empty houses, his ears and eyes open for any last minute stragglers that might not have wanted to leave all they had to the encroaching blaze.

“This section is clear chief.”

“Great! Return to camp immediately!”

“Sir!” Makoto’s partner responded dutifully, turning to look at the younger firefighter before he looked back to the mountain they had to start climbing.

“You go on ahead,” Makoto spoke up, “I won’t be far behind.”

“That’s not standard protocol,” the older man corrected.

“I know,” Makoto conceded, “but I need to send the officers back; I won’t be long.”

Makoto watched as his partner seemed hesitant; the man had seen his fair share of stupid decisions made and been in plenty of situations to know that one man alone was dangerous.

“Five minutes,” he told Makoto, “then I’m coming back and hauling you down kicking and screaming.”

“Yes sir!” Makoto nodded, grateful his superior agreed to give him five minutes.

A finger ran longingly over his phone, wishing he could call his friends to hear their words of encouragement. Wiping his brow, Makoto looked up at the bands of orange and red across the sky.

All his training couldn’t prepare him for this.

The shifts were long and unforgiving, not that any of them would dare complain. Their chief ran them hard, but was constantly concerned for them. He made sure food and water was always available, and that everyone who wasn’t working was resting.

Even the volunteer police officers and civilians couldn’t lessen their work. 

The fire had come as a surprise to almost everyone. There hadn’t been a blaze like this in this region in almost 30 years. Once the threat was assessed, the firefighters acted without a second thought. Makoto had called to apologize to his friends as he was driven to the towns nearest to the blaze, in hopes of saving everyone caught in its path. His friends had only responded with worry, asking after his well-being and wanting him to be safe.

“Makoto!”

Makoto felt his heart lift at the sight of the police officer running towards him. 

The large form with short dark hair had surprised him immensely. Makoto had turned in for dinner then some much needed rest when he had overheard a low voice talking to his fire chief, asking for orders and wondering what they could do. Leaning out, Makoto’s eyes widened at the sight of Sousuke Yamazaki, standing tall in his uniform and listening intently to the fireman.

He had called out to the officer only after they had been dismissed, Sousuke’s smile unmistakeable and immoveable as he approached his boyfriend of two years for a private meeting. It was then Makoto was told that Sousuke and Rin had volunteered to help out, and that he didn’t care what Makoto said, he was staying until they were ready to drag him out. To this Makoto protested, saying he was grateful for the help but wanted to keep Sousuke safe. A tight hug managed to silence his protests, at least until Makoto managed to pass out from exhaustion.

But now that the officer was running towards him at a light jog, he felt nothing but grateful to have someone he cared about close to him.

“Hey!” Makoto smiled in relief, letting his boyfriend slip his arm around his waist.

“Hey yourself…”

“Sousuke!” Makoto leaned back, “we’re on duty!”

“So?”

“So the mood sucks,” another voice grumbled, “but I doubt you care about that.”

Makoto smiled to the red-headed officer, managing to loosen Sousuke’s grip on his waist slightly.

“Everything okay here?” Rin asked, looking around at the eerily empty homes.

“Everyone has been ordered out, thanks to you guys pitching in,” Makoto told them, “we’ll be doing a final sweep soon. You two should get going too.”

“But you’re staying here?” Sousuke asked, the flirting now gone from his voice and replaced with concern.

“Part of the job,” Makoto told him, “I can’t only rescue cats out of trees.”

“Keeps you safer.”

Makoto looked to Sousuke, his face softening at Sousuke’s expression.

“Now you know how I feel, when you come home from a night shift.”

Sousuke’s lips pursed at the truth, silently vowing to ask for more desk shifts for him and Rin when the opportunity arose.

“I’ll be fine,” Makoto nudged Sousuke’s side, “but you two won’t be, if you stay here.”

“Come on,” Rin tugged Sousuke away, “we need to go.”

“Just-Just a minute—”

“Sousuke.”

The young man looked down to his boyfriend of two years. Makoto met his gaze with the soft smile that could make the officer do almost anything.

“I’ll be alright,” Makoto’s gloved hands covered Sousuke’s cheeks, “I’m just as trained as you are, remember.”

Sousuke just stared at Makoto. There was confidence in his green eyes, but also a hint of worry.

Worry for him.

“I’ll catch up,” Sousuke told Rin, the redhead nodding as he understood the dropped hint.

Makoto let Rin walk away from them, he sitting a ways away on a bench and deliberately looking away from the couple.

“I’m not gonna get lost,” Sousuke muttered, also noting Rin’s seated position.

“Yes you are,” Makoto laughed, “you always do!”

Sousuke pouted, leaning his forehead to Makoto’s.

“I’m going to be okay,” Makoto assured him.

“Then please come back home,” Sousuke whispered, “I’m asking you, to come back home.”

“I will,” Makoto promised, “so you better meet me there.”

“If Haru doesn’t beat me to it,” Sousuke teased, “but I did promise to keep you as safe as I could.”

“In a fire?” Makoto’s nose wrinkled, “think I’m supposed to keep  _you_  safe.”

“Can’t you let me be the hero?” the officer asked, walking away with his hands in his pockets.

“Any other day,” Makoto couldn’t help but laugh, “but today is my day.”

“Well then, when we’re all done here, I’ll meet you at Haru’s café,” Sousuke told him grinning, “I’ll buy you the biggest parfait he can make, Hero.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” Makoto laughed, feeling the tension around his stomach ease with their banter.

“Now that you two are done—”

“Jealous?”

“Very,” Rin stood, arms crossed over his chest, “always wanted to make-out with someone in an abandoned town.”

“We weren’t making out,” Sousuke grumbled, “ _rules_.”

Makoto grinned as he walked his two friends down to their squad car, watching as Rin slide into the driver seat and Sousuke the passenger.

“You two okay to go?” Makoto asked through the passenger window.

“Should be,” Rin commented, “same way up?”

“Chief’s telling us to go down the south road,” Makoto pointed to the path, “it’s windy, but faster.”

“Got it.”

“Drive safe—”

“Hey.”

Makoto was pulled gently back into the car by Sousuke’s firm grip. Meeting the teal eyes, Makoto paused for a moment before he leaned into the kiss Sousuke offered.

“I’ll see you at Haru’s,” Sousuke murmured, “hurry up.”

“I can’t control how long the fire burns!”

“Then tell it to hurry up and go out!” Sousuke called, waving as Rin safely pulled away from the waving firefighter.

Makoto stood for a moment longer before he grabbed his radio and started to make his way back to his troupe.

* * *

 

“I want three more crews here, and here!”

“Move! Move!”

Makoto did his best to stay out of everyone’s way, his eyes looking around for his usual partner.

“Tachibana!”

He moved towards the commanding officer, decked out in uniform and standing by a large map.

“You’re late!”

“Yes, sir,” Makoto hung his head, “where do you need me?”

“I needed you fifteen minutes ago!” the man snapped, “start running maintenance on Truck 3!”

“Sir!”

Makoto moved quickly to his work, beginning to run diagnostics. His five minutes with Sousuke were going to cost him dearly later on, but now he didn’t much mind. He and Sousuke hadn’t had more than a minute to themselves since he was called out almost a week ago, and his heart was hurting for it. Other firefighters could openly talk about their partners, but Makoto felt like his relationship didn’t have a place among the team. It wasn’t like it was hanging out with his friends. 

Rin and Haru never once judged their relationship. Occasionally Rin would poke jabs at Sousuke’s flirting and PDA, but he was never malicious or made Makoto feel like he wasn’t normal. Haru was just as supportive, even suggesting they have their first date at his café, a place the two now frequented, Rin accompanying them occasionally.

He moved quickly over the truck, checking monitors, gauges, and was working on looking at tire pressure when the chief yelled at him for status.

“Almost finished sir!” Makoto yelled back, “so far in good condition!”

“Hurry up!” the man snapped, “we need it to make sure the fire doesn’t spread any further!”

“Sir?”

“The fire suddenly shifted,” his chief explained, “it’s turned South.”

South?

Makoto tasted his heart in his mouth and felt his blood freeze. 

South. Towards the evacuation route he’d just sent Sousuke and Rin down.

“Tachibana!?”

“I-I need a minute sir—”

“You don’t—HEY!”

For once, Makoto ignored authority as he reached for his phone, scrolling through the numbers before he found the one he’d called more frequently than others. 

“Pick up, pick up,” Makoto whispered, his hand shaking as he paced, “please… pick up!”

He knew Sousuke would pick up once he saw the name. Rin always drove; with Sousuke’s sense of direction he had to. 

Maybe Rin wasn’t feeling well and he let Sousuke take the wheel, just this once. That had to be it. And Sousuke was always such a reliable person he wouldn’t dare answer his phone while driving. That must be why he wasn’t answering the phone.

“Come on…”

“Tachibana!”

Makoto was in real trouble now.

“Off the phone! Now!”

“Sir please—”

“This is not the time for insubordination!”

“Sir! I sent the officers down our South route thinking it was safe! They’re in the path!”

The chief paused for a moment. Since Makoto had started working, the chief had always been a harsh man, wanting work done perfectly or not at all. Given their profession, it was a quality Makoto understood and respected, trying his hardest to meet the almost impossible standard.

“I don’t care!” the man snapped, “you are  _never_ to abandon your post, do you understand me!?”

“Sir!” Makoto nodded, feeling the ball of anxiety knot tighter in his stomach.

“Yamamoto! Finish Tachibana’s job!” Makoto hung his head, knowing he was going to be  punished for this, “I need you to go down the south road and search for casualties along the road.”

Makoto paused. Was he really asking him that?

“Sir…”

“Go!”

Without another word of protest or hesitating thought in his head, Makoto bolted to the car, shutting the door behind him and starting his long drive down the winding road.

* * *

 

Makoto drove carefully down the winding path, his eyes strained as they looked for the black and white Sousuke and Rin drove.

At first the ride had been smooth and clear, but the change had come drastically.

Smoke covered his path and the sky turned dark with embers as Makoto turned the road, forcing him to slow. His already panicking heart beat harder at the sight, his anxiety rising as he felt his search for the two officers was unavoidably prolonged.

If he ever found them

The thought was so sickening he found the sight of the black and white in a ditch something of a relief.

“Sousuke! Rin!”

His equipment was barely over his own mouth and nose as he pelted out of the car, straining his eyes to look through the windows. Feeling his heart pound, Makoto settled on helping the one person he saw in the car.

Makoto managed to pull the car door open before he grabbed Rin’s midsection and hauled him towards the road. Even through his thick gear, he could feel Rin’s heart beating and his lung’s expanding. Helping him along, Makoto opened the passenger side door of his car and covered Rin’s mouth and nose with his own mask. He then started to work on the wound on Rin’s forehead, trying his hardest not to faint or flinch at the sight of so much blood. The wound didn’t seem serious, but head wounds were deceptive by nature, and Makoto wouldn’t know how bad it was until Rin woke up.

The seconds felt like hours as the chest’s rising became more noticeable, the water Makoto splashed over Rin’s face made the eyelids twitch and move. 

“M… M…”

“Easy,” Makoto told him, “take it real easy. I don’t know how much smoke you took in.”

“Wh…”

“The fire suddenly shifted,” Makoto continued, checking Rin’s pulse and reaching for his radio, “we didn’t see it coming.”

Rin nodded weakly, agreeing to lie back as Makoto called for the ambulance that was already on its way.

“Makoto…”

After a few moments Rin managed to get his voice back, through it was rather scratchy and painful.

“Hey! You need to sit back down—”

“Fine,” Rin grunted, “Sousuke—”

A fit of coughing had him doubled over, his body now sitting with Makoto’s had to his back.

“Sousuke… went on ahead,” Rin coughed as he breathed deeply, “said… he wanted to find… a signal… call you…”

“Breathe deep,” Makoto told Rin, “you gotta breathe deep.”

“I’m sorry,” Rin whispered, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, “Makoto… I’m—”

“It’s not your fault,” Makoto told him through his own mask, “you couldn’t have known.”

“You… couldn’t know… either…”

Makoto paused for a moment, still encouraging Rin’s head towards the ground.

“Not… your fault—”

“Don’t talk so much,” Makoto suddenly chastised, grateful when he suddenly saw lights peek through the smoke. “If you remember, I need you to point where Sousuke went.”

Rin was compliant, directing Makoto up the mountain and into even worse smoke. Makoto swallowed, feeling the smoke already pricking at his eyes and throat. He was grateful then when he could take his mask back as the paramedics slipped another one over Rin.

“We’ll take him from here.”

“There’s another one,” Makoto told them, he already starting to move away, “I’m going to find him!”

“Huh!? Wait—”

“Bring another ambulance! We’ll need it.”

Makoto figured he’d been spending too much time with Sousuke, given how he wasn’t usually someone to leap into something so risky and dangerous.

Then again, this was  _for_ Sousuke.

* * *

 

“Sousuke!? Sousuke!?”

Makoto’s voice might’ve been empty for all the good it did. His vision came in and out, going form nothing but smoke to nothing but burning. 

It never ceased to amaze him how fast fire moved.

Parts of the earth were still crackling with orange flames, while others were nothing but burnt dirt and ash.

It was terrifying.

He had to press on, he told himself, had to find Sousuke. While in which condition he would find his boyfriend was not something he was ready to think about, Makoto pressed on, calling and yelling as best he could through a mask.

Sousuke couldn’t have gotten far, not in this smoke. He would have gotten confused, turned around… maybe he found his way back to the road. Even Sousuke’s poor sense of direction had some shinning moments; it had too.

He passed many things that looked like a person, each time he yelled the young man’s name, running up to a twisted tree, a burnt bush, a gnarled trunk, a collection of large stones, a fallen tree over a dark figure..

“Sousuke!? SOUSUKE!?”

The figure moved slowly, a head of dark hair daring to turn at the sound of Makoto’s voice.

“SOUSUKE!?”

He came upon the young man lying under a fallen tree, the embers lightly sizzling on the charred remains.

“Mako… to.”

Makoto’s heart sank. He sounded bad.

“What the Hell did you do!?”

“Looking for you,” Sousuke coughed, “should’ve left it to you guys…”

“Why!?”

“Rin… accident—”

“He’s fine,” Makoto assured him, “but we need to get you out!”

“Tried,” Sousuke whispered, pushing in emphasis, “stuck—”

Makoto heard the tree creak and groan under the movement. If it moved the wrong way, being stuck would be the least of Sousuke’s concerns.

“Don’t move!” Makoto chastised, “Chief!”

Sousuke barely heard the radio beep as Makoto tried to signal for help.

“I have a 10-53! Repeat! A 10-53!”

Nothing but static came from Makoto’s radio, his heart pounding in his chest as no one responded to his man down call.

They must be out of range... 

“We need to get you out of here!”

“AAH!”

At once Makoto stopped moving, looking back down to Sousuke that was now curled in pain.

“What’s wrong!?”

“Sh-Shoulder!” Sousuke gasped, “that hurt!”

“I’m sorry!”

Makoto moved, kneeling in front of Sousuke and grabbing the wood closer to where it had embedded itself in Sousuke’s shoulder.

“NNgg… rrg…”

“I can’t lift it from here!” Makoto told him, “you need to help!”

“Trying!” Sousuke coughed, “where’re the rest of them!?”

“I don’t know!” Makoto was back trying to lift the fallen tree, “I’m not waiting around for them!”

“Makoto—”

“Try again—”

“JUST GO!”

The shout startled Makoto. Green eyes turned to Sousuke, a hacking cough taking over his body.

“You need... to get out of here,” Sousuke managed to tell him, “go!”

Makoto just stood there, the smoke concealing his mask and face. Sousuke’s words had stunned him, enough to make him freeze in an emergency situation.

Leave Sousuke?

“Try again.”

Like Hell.

He was not about to leave the man that complimented him on every little thing he did. He was not about to leave someone who was usually so confident and self-assured but was visibly nervous when they were asking Makoto out. 

He was not about to leave someone he loved so dearly. 

“I’m not leaving you,” Makoto told him, his hands still under the log.

“Makoto—”

“Try again!” Makoto put all his strength into lifting the branch, “think about Rin! Haru!” he grunted, “do you want to hurt them like this!?”

Sousuke stared at Makoto, wasting the precious seconds they had.

“M—”

“Stop talking and lift!”

Something creaked and shifted. Any chance of a retort Sousuke had was silence as he accidentally inhaled the newly disturbed smoke.

The panic nearly killed him.

 _“_ _hee-hee_ _—_ ”

What came out of his mouth was barely wheezing, let alone breathing.

No matter what Sousuke’s lungs tried, they couldn’t salvage a usable breath. Nothing seemed to make air push past his mouth, his hands pressed on the ground while one was on his throat, silently begging it to heal.

“SOUSUKE!?”

Makoto’s hands were simultaneously trying to reach for Sousuke while keeping a firm grip on the wood keeping the police officer trapped and dying. Makoto wasn’t sure what Sousuke was doing now, him feeling helpless as the officer’s nails dragged on the flooring and leaving claw marks in the ashes.

He needed to get free.

“Hang on! Just hang on!”

A mask was shoved over Sousuke’s head, his lungs forced to breathe deeply while his eyes looked up to the young man that was covering his mouth with his elbow.

“Breathe, deep,” Makoto told him through his own controlled breathing, the smoke from before now aggravated.

Sousuke’s panic slowly ebbed away, the fear in the bright teal eyes now replaced with concern for the coughing Makoto.

This was bad.

Makoto was torn. If he stayed kneeling he’d run out of oxygen for Sousuke and no one would find them. If he stood, he’d inhale more smoke, an possibly pass out. If he passed out before he could get Sousuke free…

Sousuke looked up to the standing firefighter, Makoto returning to where he was gripping the log.

He ignored the tugging on his pant leg, Sousuke trying to tell him to come back down, lower himself, keep himself safe.

Gritting his teeth, Makoto took everything he had and put it towards freeing Sousuke. He had on last chance of getting the officer free, and he wasn’t about to waste it.

“Mako—Mako—Makoto!”

Makoto ignored the strangled voice begging him to stop. To him there wasn’t any choice. If he was going to die, it should be done while saving Sousuke. His resolve seemed so strong that the log was finally able to move without causing Sousuke’s more pain.

He supposed it was silly that someone trained to search and rescue couldn’t notice the two set of hands on the log.

Once the wood went crashing down, only then did Makoto recognize his fellow firefighters, both standing there staring at what must’ve been an odd sight. He smiled gratefully at the sight, letting all the adrenaline keeping him upright leave his system.

The firefighters rushed to catch him and lead him to the ground, turning him to his back to face the sky. Makoto couldn’t hear much, his vision of the darkened sky obstructed by men and women in suits surrounding him and Sousuke, several masked faces looking down at him before they waved someone else over. Almost every sense was slowly dulling, his vision becoming darker and his breathing becoming painful. Thankfully, his sense of touch was with him until he passed out, his fingers tightening around the fingers he knew belonged to Sousuke.

* * *

 

Makoto had seen many people, firefighters included, needing to be carted off to the hospital from smoke inhalation or burns. Watching his fellow comrades wake slowly from week-long stays was nerve-wracking and made Makoto question what more he could have done to save their families this worry or pain. The guilt and fear didn’t come close to what he felt waking on his own.

The room was dark, his eyes feeling scratched and sore, though it didn’t compare to how his throat was feeling. Despite there being a tube shoved down his trachea, Makoto felt each breath cause him pain. He was sure he was on morphine, so why wasn’t it helping him?

His green eyes started to search the room, his hazy mind starting to understand his predicament. He must’ve been rescued by his fellow firefighters, and brought to the hospital. They had helped him with Sousuke—

Sousuke.

Makoto felt panic wake him more, his body shuffling as he tried to pull his body off the bed.

“Makoto!”

He paused at the sight of Haruka standing over his bed, his blue eyes rimmed with very dark circles and tinged with worry.

“Hey!” Haru smiled, “you’re up!”

Makoto looked around, even more confused now. If Haru was here, where was Rin? Did he make it out okay.

“Doctor said you have to have the tube in for a little while longer,” Haru explained, “and your chief wants a word with you.”

Green eyes silently pleaded with Haru. He didn’t care to know about all that.

Sousuke. Where was Sousuke.

He had never been so grateful to have a friendship like he did with Haru. The young man had never really learned how to read subtler signals, but he understood when Makoto desperately needed something, like he did now.

Haru stood and moved to the other half of the room and pulled the curtain away to reveal a sleeping Sousuke with Rin resting in a chair beside his fellow officer.

“He woke up yesterday,” Haru explained quietly, “Rin, two days before.”

Makoto’s head hit the pillow as the stress left his body.

He didn’t fail.

He was okay, and so was Sousuke, and so was Rin.

And now, so was Haru.

It was apparent that he’d had all the stress on his shoulders, being the only one who couldn’t be out there with them. He simply had to sit and wait for all them to wake up. 

He tried to tell Haru how sorry he was, how grateful he was that they were all okay. The tube in his throat preventing all that.

“Makoto?” Haru asked, “what’s wrong?”

“Nothing.”

Both men looked down to the other bed, Sousuke’s eyes open and his smile sleepy. 

That smile never looked so good.

Without another word to the other two, Sousuke pulled off his oxygen mask and stripped off his monitors. Despite Haru’s protesting, Sousuke moved out of bed and managed to stumble to Makoto’s bed where he slipped his body beside Makoto. His good arm rested on the bed, the other kept safe in the sling.

“Hey.”

Makoto blinked slowly in response, really wishing he didn’t need the tube to breathe.

“Sousuke, you’re going to get in trouble—”

“I don’t care,” Sousuke murmured, “let me have a few minutes with my hero.”

The green eyes looked at the teal, Makoto feeling the drugs return to his system and his tiredness settled in.

“Don’t fall asleep on me,” Sousuke whispered, “I still owe you that parfait.”

Makoto managed to laugh despite his circumstances. A hand scratched the side of his head, lulling him back to sleep. 

“Then again, you’re going to be so busy, getting award and accommodations… I might not get the chance to give it to you…”

The firefighter hummed quietly. He supposed he would get something like that. Not that he wanted it; bravery and stupidity only differed by their survival rate.

“Goodnight, my hero.”

At this Makoto smiled. Sousuke’s hero. That wasn’t such a bad thing to be. 

He leaned closer to the policeman, the green eyes gently shutting. After all the fear, terror, and nightmares still to come, being able to sleep beside Sousuke again was all he really wanted. His own, stubborn, directionless, handsome, hero. 

**Author's Note:**

> So I hope makes you happy iskabee! I couldn't not give Makoto a happy ending, especially on his birthday!


End file.
